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Paramaribo

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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the capital of Dutch Guiana or Surinam (see Guiana), in 5° 44' 3 0 "N., 55 ° 12' 54" W., 20 M. from the sea on the right bank of the Surinam, here a tidal river nearly a mile broad and 18 ft. deep. Pop. (1905), 33,821. Built on a plateau about 16 ft. above low-water level, Paramaribo is well-drained, clean and in general healthy. The straight canals running at right angles to the river, the broad, straight treeplanted streets, the spacious squares, and the solid plain public buildings would not be unworthy of a town in the Netherlands.

The Indian village of Paramaribo became the site of a French settlement probably in 1640, and in 1650 it was made the capital of the colony by Lord Willoughby of Parham. In 1683 it was still only a "cluster of twenty-seven dwellings, more than half of them grog-shops," but by 1790 it counted more than a thousand houses. The town was partly burned down in 1821, and again in 1832.